


De Profundis

by Ephy



Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-20
Updated: 2015-03-20
Packaged: 2018-03-18 19:19:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3580914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ephy/pseuds/Ephy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When I died. … I thought my death would be meaningful. Because it would cause the death of the worst monster in the world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	De Profundis

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Français available: [De Profundis](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3581100) by [Fyin (Ephy)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ephy/pseuds/Fyin)



> You might want to have read (or seen) "Under the Red Hood" before reading this.

When I died. … I thought my death would be meaningful. Because it would cause the death of the worst monster in the world.

There was no doubt in my mind that he was just that. He is so much of a monster that today’s society doesn’t know what to do with him. He doesn’t fit. They can’t handle him.

The people I killed – they were worse monsters than him to someone.

People will scream that it’s not justice, but revenge. It is – revenge. “People” aren’t victims. They don’t know how it is to be so terrified of someone you cannot sleep at night. So terrified you cannot live at day. There is nothing left, except the fear, the absolute terror caused by whatever is lurking in the dark.

And you didn’t do anything to call that upon yourself. There is nothing you can do to make it stop. You are unable to fight back. Impotent.

As long as the monster is there, you are its prey.

I can’t take care of my own monster – or he wouldn’t be my personal nightmare. Preys don’t suddenly jump at their predators’ throats. It’s the point. And the fact that he also is the bogeyman for a lot of other people doesn’t make it easier.

I can’t hurt _him_. I can’t kill _him_.

But I can help other victims.

And I’m not running around killing thugs like rabbits. They _are_ scum, they _deserve_ to die – and don’t tell me some of them are parents or some other shit. _Some parents deserve to die_. God knows my father did – may the Devil exist so he can tear his soul apart.

Spoiler: he doesn’t.

However, that I personally think so doesn’t make them eligible. After all, I can’t be judge, jury and executioner. On that path lurks madness. (You may laugh if you think it’s a joke. It isn’t.)

Only _some_ of those lowlifes are actual monsters. It’s pretty hard to tell which ones. It’s not like I had a sixth sense or illusions about my capacity to evaluate one’s personality – or like I had the luxury to read the victims’ minds. So I, too, had to decide where to put my personal line.

I decided it would be kids. First rule: I wouldn’t kill a kid. Second rule: I would only kid someone who would have hurt a kid. Not just a slap on the face, of course, no, someone who would hurt a kid hard enough to leave a life lasting scar – and yes, I mean that figuratively.

This would still be way too blurry for most people. Fortunately, I’m the one who gets to choose.

And maybe that makes me one of them. Maybe that makes me scum, or a monster. But someone has to do it. Someone has to _be there_ , so even the victims I don’t help can have hope. “He didn’t kill my monster this time, but maybe, maybe next time it will be him”. That might be enough.

Ah, the last one of them finally arrived; drugs are quite a nasty way to turn children into vermin like them. I grip my bag in one hand, the AK-47 in the other.

It’s time for me to get on stage.

**Author's Note:**

> " _De Profundis (Latin: "from the depths") is a (...) letter written by Oscar Wilde during his imprisonment (...) to Lord Alfred Douglas, his lover. (...) In it he repudiates Lord Alfred for what Wilde finally sees as his arrogance and vanity (...)._ "  
> I didn't read De Profundis, but I thought it kind of fit.


End file.
